Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6535155 | Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells | 2015 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
The optical and luminescence properties of CaI2 and NaCl doped with divalent thulium are reported for solar energy applications. These halides strongly absorb solar light from the UV up to 900Â nm due to the intense Tm2+ 4f13â4f125d1 electronic transitions. Absorption is followed by emission of 1140Â nm light due to the 2F5/2â2F7/2 transition of the 4f13 configuration that can be efficiently converted to electric power by thin film CuInSe2 (CIS) solar cells. Because of a negligible spectral overlap between absorption and emission spectra, a luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) based on these black luminescent materials would not suffer from self-absorption losses. The Tm2+ doped halides may therefore lead to efficient semi-transparent power generating windows that absorb solar light over the whole visible spectrum. It will be shown that the power efficiency of the Tm2+ based LSCs can be up to four times higher compared to LSCs based on organic dyes or quantum dots.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Catalysis
Authors
Otmar M. ten Kate, Karl W. Krämer, Erik van der Kolk,